More SEC Officials to Leave Agency

On the heels of the announcement that SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro would be leaving the agency on Dec. 14, other officials followed suit.

SEC Chief of Staff Didem Nisanci left at the end of week of Dec. 10, the agency said. Schapiro named her to the post in March 2009. Nisanci served as senior advisor to Schapiro on policy, management and regulatory issues, played an integral role in the SEC’s efforts in the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act and also served as an SEC deputy to the Financial Services Oversight Council.

General Counsel Mark Cahn will leave the agency at the end of the year to return to the private sector, the SEC said.

Cahn has served as the SEC’s General Counsel since February 2011 and counseled the commission on issues ranging from enforcement actions, rulemakings, other administrative proceedings and appeals throughout the country and in the Supreme Court. Prior to becoming general counsel, Cahn served as the SEC’s deputy general counsel for two years.

Robert Cook, director of the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets, is also planning to leave the agency soon, the SEC said. Since joining the SEC in January 2010, Cook has led the division’s broad regulatory policy program that includes oversight of securities exchanges and markets, broker-dealers, clearing agencies, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Cook also oversaw the implementation of significant rulemaking and other responsibilities assigned to the Division under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, the SEC said.

Meredith Cross, director of the Division of Corporation Finance, will also leave the SEC at the end of the year to return to the private sector, according to the agency.

Cross has served as the division’s director since June 2009. She joined Schapiro’s senior leadership team in the wake of the financial crisis and played a key role in the chairman’s initiatives to rebuild the agency’s credibility, improve overall operations at the SEC, and build a more resilient, integrated program designed to foresee and reduce the likelihood of future crises in the securities markets, the SEC said.